Tag Archives: The Jungle Book

Many people probably love Jon Favreau because of what he’s done with Iron Man. But my appreciation of the actor/ writer/ director/ producer, etc. first began when he played Monica’s billionaire Ultimate Fighting Champion boyfriend in Friends. Then I saw him as an a**hole husband in one of my favourite comedies, I Love You, Man (2009). As great as his work was in both those roles, I didn’treally ‘fall deeply in love’ with Favreau’s talents until a ‘little’ foodie movie that he wrote, produced, directed and starred in called Chef (2014).

As you may be aware,I’ve reached a reasonable level of fatigue where superhero movies are concerned. Therefore I haven’t really been keeping up with Favreau’s work in the genre, though I did watch the first Ironman movie and maybe the second. Nevertheless, Favreau was a big part of the reason I was excited to watch the live-action version of The Jungle Book (2016). If you’ve seen it, you know how well the movie turned out. There’s just so much to love. For example, Idris Elba’s excellent voice work in his role as Shere Khan, how generally well thought out the movie is, the beautiful special effects and the fact that before this movie, I hadn’t ever thought about how animals perceive fire.

Whether you’re familiar with The Jungle Book story, a fan of Favreau’s other work or not, watch this movie because it’s good. It’s good, I tell you!

It’s time for another re-imagining of a popular story from your childhood…

I recall the story somewhat vaguely and I do like the cast. Idris Elba, Neel Sethi, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o and Christopher Walken make the cast of this Jon Favreau directed version.

Having just seen the above trailer I’m curious to find out whether I’ll warm to Scarlett Johanson’s Kaa voice. Not quite sure at this point. I’m most ready for Bill Murray’s Baloo voice.